Quaddicted.com Forum

snakenbush

Member

This community is awesome

Hello everyone. I didn't realize there was such a strong mod community still in place. I'm returning to Quake after an extremely long time. I messed around with making levels in the 90's. Shopping centers, schools, and other stuff that worried my parents. What kind of tools are you using nowadays? If I had something neat to contribute is there any specific steps I should take to make sure it's compatible with dark places and the injector?

Icantthinkofanickname

Moderator

Re: This community is awesome

Hi snakenbush

Welcome back to Quake! As someone who has mapped before, you might know a lot of this already, but here goes:

What kind of tools are you using nowadays?

In terms of editors, many mappers are using Trenchbroom (Func_msgboard thread), which is a powerful and modern editor, and not a bad place to start if you're unsure.

Other options include a Hammer-like editor called JACK (Func_msgboard thread), and Netradiant, which is based on GTKRadiant. Some mappers use much older editors, like QuArK. A lot of it is a matter or preference and/or what you're used to.

As for compiling tools, currently ericw-tools (Func_msgboard thread) (which started as a fork of tyrutils) is probably the way to go, especially of you want to make use of the very latest lighting options (e.g. dirtmapping, phong shading, etc.).

Other than that, have a look at Func_msgboard. It's a very useful resource for Quake SP mappers. Check out the Mapping Help thread in particular.

any specific steps I should take to make sure it's compatible with dark places

Mapping primarily with DarkPlaces in mind is probably a bad idea, as it does things so differently from other engines that you may end up with a map that's not compatible with anything else.

I'd say it's best to aim for compatibility with Quakespasm (Func_msgboard thread) first of all. It's pretty much the de facto standard for Quake SP maps these days.

If you then want to make sure your map plays in DarkPlaces as well, that would make a few people happy, but that should be a bonus and not your primary focus.

and the injector?

For submission to Quaddicted (Spirit or negke will hopefully correct me if I'm wrong about any of this):

--> If it's just a map or maps (just one or more bsp files and no skybox, external models, etc.), then:

Choose a name for your bsp file(s) that is not shared by any previous releases (you can search for the name in the Quaddicted map database -- e.g. if you choose to call your map "Citadel of the Damned", don't name it "citadel.bsp", as there's already a release with that title. "citdamn.bsp" should be fine, though.
This makes archiving things much simpler, and Spirit will thank you.

Make sure to stick to lowercase. Don't call the file "Citdamn.bsp" or "CitDamn.bsp". Users of case-sensitive operating systems will thank you.

Create a zip archive (not 7zip or any other format) containing your map(s), a readme text and optionally a lit file (if you used coloured lighting) and the source file (should you wish to release it. This is not necessary, but many mappers will thank you). Make sure everything shares the same name, e.g.:
citdamn.zip, containing citdamn.bsp and citdamn.txt -- as well as (if applicable) citdamn.lit and/or citdamn.map.

--> if your release contains additional files, e.g. a skybox, external models, sounds, etc., then you need to create the appropriate directories inside of your zip archive. For instance, a release with a skybox and external sounds would look like this:
citdamn.zip, containing
citdamn.txt
maps/citdamn.bsp
maps/citdamn.lit
gfx/env/[your skybox's tga files]
sound/ambience/[your external sound files]

As before, stick to lowercase and keep filenames unique and consistent.

And don't add any unnecessary files (e.g. screenshots).

Spirit

Administrator

Re: This community is awesome

^ Awesome post! That tool recommendation part should so go to https://quakewiki.org/ at a prominent place.

I wrote a page about release packaging years ago: https://www.quaddicted.com/help/how_to_ … ase_a_file
Not 100% behind what I wrote this much later but that fused with Icantthinkofanickname's would also make a great Quake Wiki page (which is where such pages should be, not on Quaddicted) if anyone feels like it ;)